Basic Beginner Guitar Chord – Learn to Play Em7(E Minor 7)

Easy Beginner Guitar Chord Tutorial – Learn to Play E Minor 7

Learn how to play the Em7 guitar chord (also known as E minor 7, E Minor 7th) with this free beginner chord lesson. The E Minor 7 Guitar Chord is a basic beginner guitar chord and very easy to play.

The E Minor 7 Chord  is found by locating the 1, b3, 5 , b7 steps of the  E Major Scale: E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#, or the notes E, G, B and D..  The “b3″ symbol translates to “Flattened 3rd” , which means we simply lower the 3rd step of the E Major Scale (G#) a 1/2 step to a “G”. The “b7″ symbol translates to “Flattened 7th” , which means we simply lower the 7th step of the E Major Scale (D#) a 1/2 step to a “D”.

So the notes of the E Minor 7th guitar chord are: E, G, B and D

Like most chords, there is more than one way to play the Em7 chord.  I have listed two different ways to play it below.

Here is a key that will help you read the chart:

Everything on the above chart should be self explanatory, except for the last three in the third column. They may need a bit of explaining. The O, or open symbol, simply means that you do not press down on any notes on that string. The X means you do not strum that particular string. The Barre symbol means you need to barre that particular fret. When you barre a fret you are pressing down on multiple strings at the same time with one finger.

Version 1

Version 2

Chord Playing Tips: Be sure that you are pressing down on the strings hard enough and play each string one at a time to make sure you have a nice clean sound. If any of the strings buzz or sound muted, then something is not right.

Em7 Guitar Chord Video

The video below will further demonstrate how to play the E Minor 7 Guitar Chord.